How much time have you spent idling today? Be honest with yourself… Was your Monday really as productive as you hoped?

Here are 7 ideas that you can do relatively quickly to maximize the next 10 minutes while having a profound impact. By doing them, you’ll nurture your network, build your brand, and help you maximize your time.

1 – Send a thank you to someone... it could be for a previous referral, introduction or just to thank them for being in your life. Make sure to include WHY you are thanking them.

2 – Introduce 2 (or 3, if you are feeling adventurous) people and make sure to include why you think they should be connected.

3 – Update your LinkedIn profile, whether it be with a new picture or expanding on your current services, or simply by updating your status bar. This will help you be top of mind with your contacts as this will appear in their updates news feed. (If you don’t use LinkedIn, now would be a great time to start. It’s very powerful!)

4 – Comment thoughtfully on a blog post written by someone in your community.

5 – Reach out to someone you’ve lost touch with and schedule a time to get caught up, such as an informal coffee. Email is great but pales in comparison to the value of meeting with someone in person.

6 – Reply to that email that you keep putting on the back burner… You know which one I’m talking about.

7 – Take your eyes away from the screen, look at the wall so that they can get a rest, stand up and STRETCH!!!!!!

Do you have any suggestions of things for me to include on my next list of 7? Do share!

When it comes to growing a business and marketing a business through networking (whether in person or online), time mastery is important. It is simply too easy to waste time driving, checking email, running late, forgetting things, etc etc etc. These are some of the gremlins that even I personally struggle with that eat my time up. I’m all too familiar with it. In fact, I may be genetically pre-disposed to bad time habits because I’m (big shocker here…) Hispanic… and Hispanic’s are notorious for being punctually challenged.

I attended a workshop in Charlottesville, Virginia, taught by David Finkel from the Maui Mastermind Wealth Community on time management… These were the top three takeaways that I had. They are so easy and have had a profound impact on my scheduling already. I am confident they will do the same for you if you are not already doing them.

• Be Early. Being early causes less stress! In addition, when you are early to appointments, it has been shown that the level of trust between you and the person you are meeting with goes up… If that isn’t the best reason of all, I don’t know what is… Now, early does not mean ON TIME. It means 10-15 minutes before the appointment time.
  

• Use your time “waiting” more productively. That means spend less time chatting on the phone or browsing the net and use that time to actually accomplish things or plot out what you need to accomplish. This can also be applied to when you are on HOLD or waiting to receive something, such as a fax (do people still use those), an email, a direct message or a text.

• Consciously choose your commitments. It’s okay to say NO instead of saying yes and then backing out of something due to over-committing. Your time is very valuable and you need to be aware of how you are sharing your time with others.

Do you have any time mastery tips or time stealing gremlins? Do share!

My mobile office to maximize productivity... and sanity!!

Between September 24 and November 10, I attended 10 conferences/workshops/summits, travelled to 6 states, hosted 4 of my own WIN events, spoke at 3 events and participated in 2 tele-seminars.

And, right now I’m at the airport dealing with a 3 hour flight delay in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Suffice to say, I’ve been busy.

I’ve been getting asked frequently how I manage to get any work done and stay sane. Creature comforts become all the more important when existing outside of your normal elements.

These are a few of the things that help me stay sane.

• Light laptop – I have a Mac Air. The fact that I can put this thing into my purse and have it not drag me down is glorious. There are things that I miss about heavier units such as having a CD rom but the weight benefit alone while still having a decent size screen makes this baby worthwhile.

• MobileMe – I simply love this service from Apple. I love the fact that I can log in on the web from any computer, add an event or appointment and it almost instantly updates my phone without the need for physical syncing. However, I am in the process of considering to convert to Google Calendar… but the principle is the same!

• Virtual Assistant – Kyra Hatter with Virtually Ideal Executive Services is my salvation! She manages my massive voicemail inflow, contact follow up and speaking engagements. If you are struggling with too much to do and not enough time, I highly encourage you to consider a VA.

• Great Headphones – As you will see in the picture, I don’t mess around when it comes to headphones. Now, these are not the new spiffy ones with noise reduction (though I’d love a pair if anyone has an extra set laying around! ). These headphones are near and dear to me as I’ve had them since 1998 when I used to DJ. I splurged and they have not let me down yet. I highly encourage everyone to consider getting –serious- headphones if music helps you get to your “happy place”.

• Ipod – Yes, I’m using an antiquated Ipod mini but I love it. Yes, I have an iphone and a laptop. I could easily consolidate. In fact, I even got a new ipod mini but it was such a nightmare moving the music and playlists over that I let my husband “acquire” the ipod. I have music on here from the last… 6 years and it’s a compilation from my last 4 computers and I simply don’t have the originals from when I burned them.

What things keep you sane?